| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with adam {אָדָם | ʾā·ḏām} ‘man’ as subject, followed by the passive participle ashuq {עָשֻׁק | ʿāšûq} ‘crushed’, indicating a state of inner crushing. The construct phrase be-dam-nefesh {בְּדַם־נָפֶשׁ | bə·ḏam ne·pheš} ‘in blood of life’ links dam and nefesh to denote bloodguilt. The phrase ad-bor {עַד־בּוֹר | ʿad bôr} ‘until pit’ establishes a limit, leading to yanus {יָנוּס | yā·nûs} ‘he will flee’, a future flight. Finally, the jussive al-yitm’chu-vo {אַל־יִתְמְכוּ־בֽוֹ | ʾal yiṯmə·kû·wō} ‘let them not support him’ prohibits any assistance. The structure presents cause and effect, typical of Hebrew wisdom parallelism. |